Eminem is back in the studio

It’s been four long years since Eminem released his last solo album, but associates say the music megastar is getting serious about his long-anticipated return. “Em is excited,” says rapper Bishop Lamont, a fellow protégé of Dr. Dre. “He’s been quiet too long, and he’s got a lot to get off his chest.” While no release date has been announced for Eminem’s next album, his label says he’s currently at work in the studio. Eminem was reportedly devastated by the 2006 death of his close friend Proof in a shooting, but Lamont says he’s heard “some amazing stuff” from the 35-year-old provocateur’s recent recording sessions. “He went through what he had to go through, and now he’s been able to take all the pain and stress and put it out in his music.”

Hopefully his next release will be better than some of the latter stuff he released. I miss the fun Em with the playful, perverted rhymes, not the politically charted crapola or songs about his daughter.

Unlike other rap artists who communicate through social expectaions and cliched themes. Eminem has always sung his soul. You can feel his inner struggle and the demons he faces through his music. Even the so called “fun” music mentioned above was filled with the hysteria of an artist spiraling out of control. I look forward to hearing what this modern Whitman has to say once again.

I’ll listen to anything Eminem dishes out, even when it involves politics or his daughter (I can’t side with you there, 2smokingbarrels). I just don’t like it when it’s badly executed (e.g., ‘When I’m Gone’ which was mediocre), which was the case with many of his post-Eminem Show/8-mile singles. Encore had a few decent tracks, but much of it wasn’t to his usual standards. I haven’t given up hope on Em though. Two great LPs and a pretty good third effort out of four albums isn’t bad. If the new album reverts to the quality of his older stuff, the new CD will be much better than Encore, at the very least.